Apparatus for pumping grout



June 1967 L. A. TURZILLO ETAL 3,323,462

APPARATUS FOR PUMPING GRQUT 4 sheets sheet 1 Filed Sept. 9, 1965 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY June 6, 1967 A. TURZILLO ETAL 3,323,462

APPARATUS FO PUMPING GROUT Filed Sept. 9, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

LEE TURZILLO ATTORNEY June 6, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 9, 1965 INVENTOR.

LEE TURZILLO 8r 'KLINE MCKINZIE m-@ea./

ATTORNEY June 6, 1967 Filed Sept.

L. A. TURZILLO ETAL APPARATUS FOR PUMPING GROUT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Milli.

v INVENTOR.

LEE TURZILLO a BY KLINE McKINZ/E ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,323,462 APPARATUS FOR PUMPING GRDUT Lee A. Turzillo, 2078 Glengary Road, Akron, Ohio 44313, and Kline McKinzie, 5651 Broadview Road, Parmrnfihio 44129 Filed Sept. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 486,102 14 Claims. (Cl. 103-49) This invention relates to pumps, and in particular relates to apparatus for pumping grout or like fluid material having coarse particles therein.

Heretofore, for the purpose of pumping grout into holes drilled in an earth situs to form piles in the same, very heavy, expensive equipment has been required to pump the dense material, usually including a heavy pump unit and a large, cumbersome air compressor for power to operate it, requiring trucking service for hauling the same to and from the situs. Diflicultiy has also been encountered in pumping grout because the sand particles therein tended to interfere with proper closing of necessary valving means in the pumping apparatus.

One object of the present invention is to provide apparatus of the character described for effectively and efficiently pumping grout in a continuous flow, and at requisite pressure for feeding the grout into augercast holes in a situs to form a pile therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character described which is so relatively lightweight and compact that it may be relatively easily transported from place to place on a single truck.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved valve means for passage of fiuid grout under pressure, wherein is minimized the tendency of valves of this type to become logged with sand or like coarse particles,

and by which abrasive wear on the valve parts is sub- I stantially reduced.

These and other objects of the invention will be mani- I fest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawings.

Of the accompanying drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a grout pumping machine embodying the features of the invention, wherein parts are broken away and in section.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation, on a larger scale, as viewed from the right of FIGURE 1.

tral portion of FIGURE 1, illustrating one form of pumpreversing mechanism for the machine, in several stages of a reversing operation of the mechanism.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary enlarged view, partly broken away and in section, of an improved grout-valving mechanism located at the left of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modified form of the pump-reversing mechanism shown in FIGURES l, and 3 to 5.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary front elevation of the pump-reversing mechanism shown in FIGURE 7.

Referring generally to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is illustrated a grout pump G, on a framework F, for use with a power-operated hydraulic pump of known type (not shown) for supplying a continuous flow of ressurized oil, for exam le, to reciprocate, a piston means of a motor 11, controlled by a reversing valve mechanism 12. Reciprocation of said piston means operates grout pump G for continuously pressurizing liquid grout supplied thereto through a funnel 14 or other known means, and pumping it through outlet conduit means 49.

The aforesaid hydraulic pump (not shown) may be gasoline, compressed air, or electrically powered, continuously to supply pressure fluid, such as oil, to a fourway reversing valve 15, which is operated by a pilot valve FIGURES 3 to 5 are views corresponding to the cen- 3,323,462 Patented June 6, 1967 15a in said reversing mechanism 12, and thence alternately to opposite ends of piston means of motor 11 (see FIGURE 1), for reciprocating the piston therein (not shown). For this purpose a piston rod 16 of pump 11 is connected to an axially aligned reduced extension 17 of a piston or plunger 18 which is reciprocably re ceived in a cylinder 19 of grout pump 13 (see FIG- URE 6).

The reversing mechanism 12 includes a block 21, adjustably afiixed on piston rod 16 to reciprocate therewith, alternately to engage vertically spaced stop pins 22 and 23 on the block with one or other of two upright arms 24 and 25 pivoted at lower ends thereof to the framework F. A pair of adjustable links 26 and 27 have outer ends thereof pivoted to the upper ends of the arms 24 and 25, and connecting inner ends are pivot-ally connected to the free end of an upwardly extending control arm 28 of the flow-pilot valve 15a carried on the framework F. Thus, at the end of each forward stroke of piston rod 16 (to left of FIGURE 1), the pins 22 and 23 will progressively engage arm 24 to throw the control arm 28 and thereby move the linkage, as shown in FIGURES 3 to 5, correspondingly to reverse the operation of piston means of motor 11. Likewise, with opposite or rearward movement of rod 16 (to the right of FIGURE 1), the pilot valve 15a is reversed to start another forward operation of motor 11. Springs 30, 30 attached between the upper ends of arms 24 and 25 and adjacent portions of framework F tend to make the reversing mechanism 12 operate more smoothly.

As best shown in FIGURE 6, in conjunction with FIGURE 1, the grout-pressurizing piston means 13 may include a pump housing 31 providing longitudinally spaced housing sections 32 and 33 for top and bottom pumping chambers 34 and 35 in each (see FIGURE 6). Each chamber 34 and 35 is provided with a horizontal wall means 36, 36 having therein a downwardly tapered aperture 37 in which is complementally retained a unitary tapered ring or collar 38 of abrasion resistant material, in turn having a valve opening 39 extending vertically between inlet and outlet sides, below and above the wall means 36, respectively. The outlet end of each valve opening 39 within its respective valve chamber terminates in an upwardly presented, narrow annular seat 40 defined between spaced peripheral edges. A spring-pressed metal or like smooth-surfaced ball 42 is normally yieldingly complementally seated on seat 40 about a correspondingly narrow peripheral area of the ball, below the great circle of the same, thereby to seal the opening 39 against passage of fluid grout. Opposite sand or like particledeflecting portions 43 and 44 next adjacent said peripheral ice , edges of the seat 40 may be outwardly divergent relative to the respective outwardly exposed, adjacent surface portions of the fully seated ball 42 thereon, as best shown in FIGURE 6, thereby to allow coarse sand particles in the grout being pumped readily to fall away from between the ball and its annular seat 40. This assures full complemental closing engagement of the ball on the seat at all times. In addition, the valve opening 39 may be downwardly enlarged, substantially as shown in two instances in FIGURE 6 so that the widest portion 39a of the opening more closely approaches the diameter of the ball 40. With this divergent shape of the opening 39 it has been found that the abrasive wear on the collar 38, due to continued passage of grout through the opening, will not destroy or reduce the useful life of the collar nearly so much as when the valve opening is uniformly cylindrical, for example.

The bottom or inlet sides of the two bottom valving openings 39 may connect with a reservoir 45 containing a full supply of fluid grout, gravitationally or otherwise fed thereto (see FIGURES 1, 2, and 6). Each bottom pumping chamber 35 connects with the next adjacent end of piston 18 in the cylinder 19, through passage means 46 in the housing, and also connects with the respective upper pump chamber 34 through an offset passage means 48 to the normally closed opening 39 in respective wall means 36. Accordingly, when the piston 18 is moved forwardly (to the left as shown in FIGURE 6), suction keeps the upper valve ball closed, but yieldingly opens the lower ball valve to draw grout from the reservoir 45 into pumping chamber 35, and to fill the available space of cylinder 19' to the end of piston 18 and passage 39 to the closed upper valve ball 42. Upon reversal of piston 18, as described above, the resultant pressure on the grout in the lower pumping chamber 35 closes lower valve ball 42 and forces entrapped grout upwardly through passage 39, thereby to open upper valve ball 42, and force the grout from the upper chamber 34 and outwardly thereof through the conduit means 49 to the situs of use of the pressurized grout, as required. With continued reciprocation of piston 18, the pressurized grout is likewise alternately pumped from the two upper pump chambers 34 in a steady stream, through the outlet conduit means 4% In operation of the improved grout pumping mechanism, as for supplying pressurized grout to equipment (not shown) for auger-casting concrete piles at an earth situs, the unitary, compact mechanism best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 is easily transported to the situs. Continuous operation of the above-mentioned hydraulic pump provides a continuous supply of pressurized oil to reversing valve 15, alternately to feed the same, as previously described, to opposite ends of piston pump 11, and thereby to reciprocate piston 18 of grout-pressurizing pump 13. Thus, fluid grout fed into hopper 14 is continuously pressurized and force-fed through the conduit means 49 to aforesaid grouting equipment.

Referring to FIGURES 7 and 8, there is illustrated a modified form of reversing mechanism 12a for operating the reversing valve 15, through a pilot valve b, corresponding to pilot valve 15a of FIGURE 1. The mechanism 12a may include a U-shaped rocker arm 51, keyed on a rotatable control shaft 52 of the pilot valve 15b, to present longitudinally spaced, inwardly opposed shoulder portions 53', 53 for alternate engagement by a reciprocating pin 54 which is carried by piston rod 16. That is, with each reversing stroke of rod 16, the pin 54 engages one or other of the shoulder portions 53 to swing rocker arm 51 for reversing operation of pilot valve 15b, which in turn operates the four-way reversing valve 15 to reverse the pump 11, as before. Stops 55, 55 on framework F limit rocking movement of arm 51. The rocker arm 51 may be interchangeable with other variously proportioned rocker arms for varying the grout pumping rate.

Other modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for pumping grout or like fluid material, comprising: housing means including therein spaced pairs of upper and lower pumping chambers, each provided with wall means having a valve opening between inlet and outlet sides of the respective wall means; the outlet end of each valve opening terminating in an annular valve seat within the respective pumping chamber; spring-pressed balls in each said pumping chamber yieldingly depressed downwardly into complemental seating engagement with its said valve seat at a point below the great circle of the respective ball; means for supplying said fluid mate rial to said lower valve chambers, through the valve openings thereof; passage means from said lower pumping chambers to said upper chambers for flow of the fluid material between the same through the valve openings of the respective upper pumping chambers; conduit means connecting said upper pumping chambers for conducting fluid material therefrom; cylinder means connecting said lower pumping chambers; reciprocable piston means in said cylinder means alternately to apply pressure within the opposite end, lower pumping chambers to close and open the lower and upper valve balls respectively; and means for reciprocating said piston means, thereby alternately to force fluid material under pressure from the lower pumping chambers into the respective upper pumping chambers and through the open upper ball valves to said conduit means; reverse operation of said piston means being alternately effective by suction to open the respective opposite end lower valve balls and to close the corresponding upper valve balls, thereby to draw fluid material from the source thereof into the respective lower pumping chambers; whereby reciprocation of the piston means alternately pumps pressurized fluid material from opposite ends of said housing means to said conduit means.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, each said annular seat being defined between spaced peripheral edges; and opposite particle-deflecting portions of the corresponding said wall means next adjacent said peripheral edges being outwardly divergent relative to the respective outwardly exposed, adjacent surface portions of the corresponding fully seated valve ball thereon, to allow coarse particles in the fluid material readily to fall away from between each ball and its annular seat, whereby full complemental closing engagement of the balls on the annular seats is facilitated.

3. Apparatus as in claim 2, each said wall means including a wall portion having downwardly tapered aperture larger than said valve opening therein, and a tapered collar downwardly complementally received in said aperture; said annular seats, said particle-deflecting portions, and said valve openings being formed in the respective said collars.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, the valve opening in each said collar being divergently enlarged toward said inlet side of the same.

5. Apparatus as in claim 1, the valve opening in each said wall means being divergently enlarged toward said inlet side of the same.

6. Apparatus as in claim 1, the valve opening in each said wall means being divergently enlarged toward said inlet side of the same, and to a diameter substantially greater than the minimum flow area of the valve opening.

7. Apparatus as in claim 1, said piston means including an extension outwardly of said housing means; a pressurefiuid actuated pump having a reciprocable hydraulic piston connected to said extension; a reversing valve having a movable part operable to reverse the direction of said hydraulic piston and thereby through said extension to reverse the direction of said piston means; reversing means carried by said extension and operable by movement thereof in either of opposite axial directions to trip said movable valve part, and thereby to reverse the direction of said hydraulic piston, extension and piston means.

8. A valve as for passage of grout or other fluid material having coarse particles therein, comprising: a housing provided with wall means dividing the same into inlet and outlet sides connected by a valve opening defining at one said side an upwardly presented narrow annular seat between spaced peripheral edges; and a spring-pressed ball at said one side and yieldingly depressed downward into complemental seating engagement with said seat about a correspondingly narrow peripheral area of the ball, below the great circle of the same; opposite particle-deflecting portions of said wall next adjacent said peripheral edges of said annular seat being outwardly divergent relative to the respective outwardly exposed adjacent surface portions of the fully seated said ball thereon, to allow coarse particles in the fluid material readily to fall away from between the ball and the annular seat, whereby full complemental closing engagement of the ball on said seat is facilitated, said wall means including a wall portion having a downwardly tapered aperture larger than said valve opening, and a tapered collar downwardly complementally received in said aperture; said annular seat, said particledeflecting portions, and said valve opening being formed on said tapered collar.

9. A valve as in claim 8, said valve opening being divergently enlarged toward the other said side of said wall means away from said ball.

10. A valve as for passage of grout or other fluid material having coarse particles therein, comprising: a housing provided with wall means dividing the same into inlet and outlet sides, said wall means having an aperture therethrough defining an annular seat; a unitary abrasionresistant collar removably mounted in said annular seat and having a valve opening therethrough between periph eral inlet and outlet ends thereof; and a spring-pressed ball at said outlet side of the wall means and yieldingly depressed toward said wall means; the peripheral outlet end portion of the collar being convergently disposed with reference to an adjacent peripheral outlet end portion of said valve opening thereof to define a narrow peripheral seat for complemental seating engagement with a correspondingly narrow peripheral area of the ball at a point below the great circle of the same; said convergently disposed portions of the collar constituting particle-deflecting faces each outwardly divergent relative to the respective outwardly exposed, adjacent surface portions of the ball when the same is seated on the narrow annular seat; coarse particles in the fluid material passing through said opening when the ball is in open position, thereby being deflected away from said narrow annular seat by said convergently disposed portions of the collar to facilitate full valve-closing engagement of the ball on the narrow annular seat; said valve opening in said collar being divergently and unobstructedly enlarged in the direction away from said ball, and to a maximum unobstructed diameter greater than that of said narrow annular seat.

11. Apparatus as for pumping grout or like fluid material, comprising: housing means including therein spaced pairs of first and second pumping chambers, each pair of which is provided with dividing wall means having a valve opening between inlet and outlet sides of the respective Wall means; the outlet end of each valve opening terminating in an annular valve seat within the respective pumping chamber; spring-pressed balls in each said pumping chamber yieldingly depressed into complemental seating engagement with its said valve seat at a point spaced from the great circle of the respective ball; means for supplying said fluid material to said second pumping chambers,

through the valve openings thereof; passage means from said second pumping chambers to said first pumping chambers for flow of the fluid material between the same through the valve openings of the respective first pumping chambers; conduit means connecting said first pumping chambers for conducting fluid material therefrom; cylinder means connecting said second pumping chambers; reciprocable piston means in said cylinder means alternately to apply pressure within the opposite end, second pumping chambers to close and open the valve balls of the second and first pumping chambers, respectively; a fluid pressureoper-ated motor having a reciprocable member operatively connected to said piston means to reciprocate the same; and a reversing valve mechanism having a movable part operable by reverse movements of said member to reverse the direction of flow of the pressure fluid in said motor, thereby alternately to force fluid material under pressure from the second pumping chambers into the respective first pumping chambers and through the open ball valves of the first pump chambers to said conduit means; reverse operation of said piston means being alternately effective by suction to open the respective opposite end valve balls of the second pump chambers and to close the corresponding valve balls of the first pump chambers, thereby to draw fluid material from the source thereof into the respective second pumping chambers; whereby said reciprocation of the piston means alternately pumps pressurized fluid material from opposite ends of said housing means to said conduit means.

12. Apparatus as in claim 11, said movable part including a pivoted rocker arm having longitudinally spaced shoulder portions, and actuating means on said member being reciprocable with said member alternately to engage said shoulder portions and pivot said rocker arm in opposite fluid-pumping directions.

13. Apparatus as in claim 12, including stop means for limiting said pivotal movement of said rocker arm in opposite directions.

14. Apparatus as in claim 13, said rocker arm being interchangeable with other rocker arms to vary the spacing of said shoulder portions and thereby vary the groutpumping capacity of said pump. 7

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,747,510 5/1956 Von Seggern l0344 FOREIGN PATENTS 592,734 2/1960 Canada. 656,778 1/1963 Canada.

14,402 1890 Great Britain.

ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,323,462 June 6, 1967 Lee A. Turzillo et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the heading to the printed specification, lines 3 to S, for "Lee A. Turzillo, 2078 Glengary Road, Akron, Ohio 44313, and Kline McKinzie, 5651 Broadview Road, Parma, Ohio 44129" read Lee A. Turzillo, Akron, and Kline McKinzie, Parma, Ohio, assignors to Lee Turzillo Contracting Company, Brecksville, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Signed and sealed this 27th day of August 1968.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. APPARATUS FOR PUMPING GROUT OR LIKE FLUID MATERIAL, COMPRISING: HOUSING MEANS INCLUDING THEREIN SPACED PAIRS OF UPPER AND LOWER PUMPING CHAMBERS, EACH PROVIDED WITH WALL MEANS HAVING A VALVE OPENING BETWEEN INLET AND OUTLET SIDES OF THE RESPECTIVE WALL MEANS; THE OUTLET END OF EACH VALVE OPENING TERMINATING IN AN ANNULAR VALVE SEAT WITHIN THE RESPECTIVE PUMPING CHAMBER; SPRING-PRESSED BALLS IN EACH SAID PUMPING CHAMBER YIELDINGLY DEPRESSED DOWNWARDLY INTO COMPLEMENTAL SEATING ENGAGEMENT WITH ITS SAID VALVE SEAT AT A POINT BELOW THE GREAT CIRCLE OF THE RESPECTIVE BALL; MEANS FOR SUPPLYING SAID FLUID MATERIAL TO SAID LOWER VALVE CHAMBERS, THROUGH THE VALVE OPENINGS THEREOF; PASSAGE MEANS FROM SAID LOWER PUMPING CHAMBERS TO SAID UPPER CHAMBERS FOR FLOW OF THE FLUID MATERIAL BETWEEN THE SAME THROUGH THE VALVE OPENINGS OF THE RESPECTIVE UPPER PUMPING CHAMBERS; CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTING SAID UPPER PUMPING CHAMBERS FOR CONDUCTING FLUID MATERIAL THEREFROM; CYLINDER MEANS CONNECTING SAID LOWER PUMPING CHAMBERS; RECIPROCABLE PISTON MEANS IN SAID CYLINDER MEANS ALTERNATELY TO APPLY PRESSURE WITHIN THE OPPOSITE END, LOWER PUMPING CHAMBERS TO CLOSE AND OPEN THE LOWER AND UPPER VALVE BALLS RESPECTIVELY; AND 